Garfield Goes Hollywood (1987)

If specials like Garfield on the Town, Garfield in the Rough, Garfield's Halloween Adventure, and A Garfield Christmas Special are among the best of the series, and Garfield in Paradise is among the weakest (at least, in my opinion), then the best way to describe Garfield Goes Hollywood is... "eh." It's not as classic or well done as those I mentioned, as amazingly experimental as Garfield: His Name Lives, or as surprisingly effective, in more ways than one, as Garfield in the Rough or Garfield's Babes and Bullets; it's just rather ho-hum for the most part, telling a story that had a lot of potential, both for comedy and depth, especially given what happens in the third act, but I think it needed more than just under half an hour to realize it. Instead, the significant story-points just kind of come and go, and while there are funny parts, it's hardly a laugh-a-minute riot. Ultimately, while I don't think it's as uninteresting or downright annoying as Garfield in Paradise sometimes was, and it does have some memorably stylized sequences that, for me, instantly put it over that one, I think it's similar in just how much better it could've been (and also just like Garfield in Paradise, I don't get what part of this merited an Emmy nomination).

Garfield and Odie perform a routine atop a fence at night but the reactions they get range from indifference to out and out hostility. Later, the two of them, along with Jon, are watching Pet Search, a pets' version of Star Search, when they hear the grand prize is $1,000 and a chance to compete in the national finals, held in Hollywood. When they see how pathetic the previous week's winner was, they convince Jon to enter them after they show him their dance routine. But, much to their dismay, he decides to actively join the act, turning it into a trio called "Johnny Bop and the Two-Steps," where he dresses up like Elvis and sings and plays the guitar, while Garfield and Odie have to wear embarrassing 50's-style costumes as his backups. As ridiculous as it is, the lack of any real competition, as well as a disqualification when one act is revealed to be a fraud, leads to their winning. Though Garfield is unimpressed with the $1,000 and initially dreads the trip to Hollywood for fear of their making fools of themselves on national television, when they arrive, he quickly grows to like the idea of being a big star and the trappings that come with it. Now determined to win the competition and not have to go back to his mundane life, Garfield, along with Odie, decides to remove Jon from the picture, knowing Johnny Bop and the Two-Steps will not cut it in the finals. Thus, they smash his guitar and come up with a new, more successful act. Come the fateful night, while Garfield and Odie prepare to go up against some much stiffer competition, Jon worries about the effect stardom will have on them, something Garfield is actively yearning for.

Significantly, this is the last Garfield special directed solely by Phil Roman, as after this, he would always have one or more co-directors (save for 1991's Garfield Gets a Life, which he only produced). I'm not sure why that is, as both he and his production company, Film Roman, weren't doing anything else besides those specials, which is what the company was originally founded for, and wouldn't really begin to diversify away from Garfield until near the end of the specials' run. Also, it would still be another year before they began producing Garfield and Friends (although, that had been in development since 1985). And finally, except for Garfield: His 9 Lives, which is an anthology done in various styles, none of the specials produced after Garfield Goes Hollywood were all that technically challenging, so I can't think of any reason why he would need help. There was probably something else going on at the company or in Roman's life at the time which I'm not aware of that led to this but, for now, I'm not sure why he never directed another one by himself.

From the start of the special, Garfield (voiced by Lorenzo Music) is out for attention, attempting to entertain an unseen crowd with Odie while performing atop a fence one night. His jokes and bits fall flat, with one single instance of applause being a pity clap from his mother, and when he spices things up by saying, "All your mothers where army boots," he and Odie get stuff thrown at them. He's actually more satisfied with that, seeing it as a sign that they're paying attention, and he and Odie go into their dance routine, while still getting crap thrown at them. Later, when the two of them are watching Pet Search with Jon, they decide to prove they have enough talent to get on the show. However, while they succeed, Jon also decides to make himself part of the act, which Garfield feels is not a good idea, saying, "The show is called Pet Search, not Dummy Search," (he also doesn't like the idea of having to rehearse constantly). The night of the show, his fears seem well-founded when he has to wear a James Dean, greaser-like costume and wig as part of their act. Following their performance, he's sure they've blown it, calling Jon's playing and singing awful, and that seems especially true when the following act is a dog playing five instruments at the same time. Fortunately for them, it turns out to be a fraud and they win by default. Upon returning home, Garfield has written the whole thing off as a disaster and is not excited by either the $1,000 prize money (as he says, "Lotta good money does a cat,") or the trip to Hollywood to compete in the finals, as he doesn't look forward to embarrassing himself again on national television. But, when they arrive there, he's taken by the glitz and glamor, as well as the luxurious hotel they stay at, and decides to ensure that he wins and becomes a big star. To that end, he and Odie force Jon out of the act by destroying his guitar and come up with a new routine that Garfield is sure will take home the grand prize.

Odie (voiced by Gregg Berger), as usual, just goes along with whatever scheme Garfield comes up with, be it joining him on the fence to perform for an unenthusiastic audience or coming up with a routine they're sure would win Pet Search. He also agrees with Garfield that having Jon be an active part of their act is not good for their chances of winning, although he doesn't seem to be as embarrassed about the act or wearing his 50's style outfit. Significantly, Odie senses there's something up with the act following theirs, a dog playing five instruments at the same time, and unmasks him as a man wearing a dog suit, disqualifying him and leading to their winning. In Hollywood, while Garfield is completely seduced by the prospect of stardom, Odie just goes with the flow and enjoys everything at face value. But, like before, he agrees with him that they're not going to win the finals with the act Jon has come up with and he helps get rid of him by pushing a lamp onto his guitar while he's out of the room. That said, when they, inevitably, don't win, Odie is nowhere close to being as upset about it as Garfield, who throws a shameful tantrum. In fact, he takes cover behind Jon to avoid getting caught up in Garfield's wrath.

Upon hearing of the prize for winning Pet Search, Jon (voiced by Thom Huge) is ecstatic when he realizes he has two talented pets who could very well pull it off and decides not only to enter them but join the act as well, much to Garfield and Odie's dismay. He turns their routine into a 50's style trio called "Johnny Bop and the Two-Steps" and performs an Elvis-like number onstage while Garfield and Odie act as backups. Despite how much derision he gets from the boys, especially Garfield, and how ridiculous they do look in their outfits, Jon's impression of Elvis in his singing isn't all that bad, honestly. In any case, they do win the competition, though only because the one act is disqualified and they're the only remainders who don't get booed, and Jon is excited by the prize money and the trip to Hollywood to compete in the finals. But, when they get there, things turn sour for him when Garfield and Odie force him out of the act by smashing his guitar. He suspects they were behind it and is concerned about what they're going to do without a routine, only for them to come up with one that doesn't actively involve him. The night of the finals, Jon worries about what effect stardom will have on them, especially his pets, whom he feels may be leaving him behind. Thus, he's happy when they don't win the top prize, telling Garfield, once he's done ranting and trashing the backstage area, "We really haven't lost anything, Garfield. We're still a family. We still have each other," to which Garfield remarks, "Big, fat, hairy deal."

Other notable characters include the local Pet Search host (voiced by Gregg Berger), who acts all nice and enthusiastic about his job when he's on-camera but, in reality, is short-tempered and impatient, telling Jon and the boys in an aggravated tone not to be late onstage and getting really angry when, just before the cameras start rolling, a chihuahua from one of the acts runs in and bites onto his leg. As he tries to shake him off, it's obvious the guy isn't as enthusiastic about animals

as he may seem, calling the dog "stupid" and grumbling incoherently about what he would do if it wasn't for the show. During the Pet Search finals in Hollywood, he's replaced by a much more affable, and better-looking, M.C. named Burt (voiced by Frank Welker) who, despite his niceness, gets nasty looks and reactions from the acts who end up losing. Among the lackluster competitors the boys go up against initially are Grandma Fogerty (voiced by Gregg Berger) and her bird, the "Amazing Petey," who doesn't seem to

be doing so good as he lies in his cage with his feet sticking up, and a man named Herbie (voiced by Nino Tempo), whose "Five Tap-Dancing Pigeons" all fly away as soon as he introduces them. In Hollywood, they have to contend with acts such as the "Lemon Sister," a trio of singing chickens; the "Tumbling Garbanzo Brothers," a quartet of acrobatic dogs; Miles the Jazz Canary, a canary who whistles jazz tunes; and Desiree the Classical Cat (voiced by Desiree Goyette), a cat who sings "meow" as an opera solo.

From a design and animation standpoint, Garfield Goes Hollywood meets the standards of the series. The animation is fair for the first half of the special, especially when Garfield and Odie do their dance routines and during the "Johnny Bop and the Two-Steps" performance at Pet Search, but when they get to Hollywood, it becomes more fluid in general. As for the art direction and design, the special starts out with the normality of Jon's home and the low-rent, rather raggedy-looking interiors of the local WBOR TV station, especially the

backstage area and the dressing rooms, but then switches to the posh and ritzy glamour of Hollywood. The very fancy, five-star hotel they stay at has a gigantic lobby with an enormous, golden chandelier, and their room is a big, luxurious suite with really nice furniture and a bed with a high canopy. When the night of the Pet Search finals comes around, you see the outside of the studio, with big spotlights, a marquee, and a long carpet leading inside, and the boys' private 

dressing room is worlds away from the dinky, rundown one they had back home, with fresh flowers and a dressing screen with a flower pattern decoration on its front. Even the backstage area much fancier and better maintained, with lots of pink-colored curtains, and the stage and audience area looks like an opera house with how vast it is, as well as with its balconies and a chandelier. And the cartoon is also full of many lovely vistas of the countryside during the boys' trip to Hollywood and of the town itself, especially during the night of the finals.

There are a couple of memorably stylized sequences here, including a montage when they first arrive in Hollywood, set to a song by Lou Rawls. You see a freeway sign for Hollywood floating by a palm tree up against a sky with a bright yellow sun, a limousine driving past some palms up against a blue sky, a pan down of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and a shot passing by signs pointing to Wilshire Boulevard and Beverly Drive, and then, it becomes all the more stylized. You see a shot of the boys driving in front of a

building on a street corner that appears to be an actual photo with some filters over it, a freeway with cars driving in a series of dissolves, a shot of what initially looks like the moon, only for it to be revealed as a sign for the Hollywood Bowl, an actual shot of John Wayne's footprints in the cement, which Garfield puts his foot on, a sign that reads "Garfield PL.", and a series of various stars from the Walk of Fame. After Garfield declares that he could get used to the star treatment, the

sequence ends on the letters that make up the HOLLYWOOD sign popping up on screen, one at a time, and a shot of the sign itself. While not quite as stylized as that, there's another sequence shortly afterward where Garfield dreams of being a movie star, as you see him act out scenes from Singin' in the Rain, Royal Wedding, The Wizard of Oz, and others in front of full color backgrounds.

As I said in the introduction, like with Garfield in Paradise, I feel Garfield Goes Hollywood doesn't do nearly enough with its story. Like with both Garfield in Paradise and Garfield in the Rough, the basic premise of taking Garfield out of the comforts of his home and placing him in a different environment, in this case, Tinseltown, has a lot of potential, but he, Odie, and Jon don't get to Hollywood until around the halfway point and, regardless, this special is not even concerned with him getting into a bunch of hijinks. Instead, it's

about the idea of fame going to his head and causing him to become greedy and selfish in his quest for stardom, and while I would've liked seeing him and Odie getting up to mischief in Hollywood, Beverley Hills, the Walk of Fame, the Hollywood Bowl, and so on, I can appreciate this story they want to tell instead, as it also has a lot of potential. It could've turned out like Garfield on the Town, which you go into expecting to just see Garfield goofing around on the city streets but what you get is a surprisingly poignant,

heartwarming story about his roots, his family, and Jon trying to find him. But I don't think they quite made it here, and a big reason for that is because they only had 25 minutes to tell the story. Thus, we very quickly go from Garfield being embarrassed about the act Jon forces him into and not being enthusiastic about doing it on national television, to him suddenly becoming obsessed with fame and willing to do whatever he can to achieve it, even if it means hurting his owner. While I can kind of let

that go, as they do show the glitz and glamour of Hollywood getting to him, I think they should've done more with the idea of what fame can do to you. We see him and Odie edging out Jon by smashing his guitar but, if they'd been given an hour time slot, they might've been able to go farther, with Garfield maybe sabotaging the other acts before the finals and then, after he's won and become famous, he does something to royally screw over Odie as well. And finally, you could've

had him experiencing the downside of fame and wishing for his old life, leading him leaving Hollywood behind. Cliche, I know, but I think Garfield could've made it enjoyable enough to where it didn't matter. Instead, we just get a taste of all that, with Jon worrying about fame making them hard, forgetting who they are, and causing Garfield and Odie to forget him, while Garfield flat-out says he hopes that happens and doesn't care who he has to step on to achieve success. Then, they lose the competition, Garfield throws a tantrum on stage, and by the end, he's learned nothing of what Jon was trying to make him understand. You could say I'm missing the point but, on the whole, I just found this story to be half-baked and so-so.

The special opens with Garfield dancing into view atop a fence, announcing, "Hello, folks, how do you do? Garfield here to entertain you." When he gets no response at all, he comments, "Thank you for that large round of indifference." We then see that Odie is also there, playing the drums for Garfield's punchlines, and Garfield introduces him as "Mr. Skins." That doesn't get any response either, but Garfield says, "I know you're out there. I can hear ya breathing." He attempts an impression:

"Cat On a Hot Tin Roof," i.e. him jumping in place and holding his feet as if they're burning. That does get one, single instance of clapping, to which Garfield says, "Thank you, Mom." Next going for some jokes, he says, "I know a dog who was so ugly, cars chased him!", but Odie, not appreciating that, throws one of his drum sticks at Garfield's head and growls. Deciding against the dog jokes, Garfield then says, "This cat is walkin' down the street when a big, surly dog jumps out of the alley,

grabs the cat, and throws him against the wall. He picks the cat up and says, 'Your money or your nine lives.'" Again, that joke gets nothing, and when he repeats the punchline, he gets a pie in the face, to which he replies, "Nice touch." Deciding to "warm things up," he says, "All your mothers wear Army boots!", leading to the offscreen audience throwing things at both him and Odie. They both get knocked off the back of the fence but they climb back up and Garfield, happy that he has everyone's

attention, goes into his and Odie's dance number. They do so during the opening credits, as Lou Rawls sings the song, "They Love Us." People continue throwing things at them, like boots, flowerpots, tomatoes, tennis rackets, and such. At the end of it, Odie gets knocked off by a boot to the face, while Garfield gets another pie in his. He climbs back up on the fence and, as he wipes the cream off his face and shoves it out of his ears, he says, "I love show business. It's in my blood, and my ears, between my toes, up my nose..."

Later, they're watching Pet Search with Jon, which the host describes as, "The show that says, 'No matter how insignificant you are, your pet may be a star!'" After hearing the prize for winning the local competition, they see who won the previous week: Mountain Man Dan and his dog, Blue, an old man in a rocking chair, playing the banjo, as his hound sits next to him, his tail wagging back and forth underneath the rocker. Dan sings, " I have a dog/his name is Blue/he sings real good/he sings...", and

then, Blue's tail gets caught under the rocker and he goes, "Awoo!" Garfield knows he and Odie are much better than that, and when Jon mentions how he wished they had some talent, they prove it to him by performing their dance routine. Ecstatic at the idea of becoming rich and famous, Jon talks about coming up with an act, complete with costumes, rehearsing day and night (to which Garfield says, "Day and night? Forget it,"), and accompanying music. He pulls out a guitar and

starts strumming, much to Garfield and Odie's chagrin. Later, they arrive at the WBOR TV station, which Garfield describes as, "A low tech studio in a high tech society," and see some of their competition. Among them is a man making his chihuahua, Flippy, do flips for a bone, only for him to fall off his pedestal; "Rollo, the Skating Bear," who can't skate well at all (he's on roller-blades, mind you); a guy with a parrot hanging upside down from his outstretched arm; and another guy making a goldfish jump through hoops. Garfield 

gets a big smile on his face upon seeing the latter, and while Jon and Odie go to the dressing room, he stands in front of the goldfish's bowl and puts the hoop out in front of his open mouth. In the next cut, he joins Odie and Jon in the dressing room, and when Jon asks where he was, he swallows, pats his stomach, and answers, "Eliminating some competition." The host then tells them they're on in five minutes and they prepare to change into their costumes. 

As the host starts the show while trying to get rid of Flippy, who's hanging off his leg, Jon and Odie come out of the dressing room in their 50's-style costumes, but Garfield is reluctant to join them, telling Jon, "Tell you what, you and Odie go on without me. Do a knife-throwing act or something." Jon, however, orders him to come out and he does, wearing his 50's greaser-like clothes and hairstyle. Jon tries to pep them up but Garfield has a sarcastic retort to everything he says: "Okay,

are we going out there tonight?" "Maybe!" "Are we gonna give the performance of our lives?" "Doubt it!" "Are we gonna win?" "Not a chance!" "Alright, let's do it!" Jon and Odie run out towards the stage wing, while Garfield hangs back and comments, "Let's not, and say we did." The first act, Grandma Fogerty and the "Amazing Petey" doesn't go too well, as she realizes from his feet sticking straight up in the cage and his not responding to her commands that Petey may need a doctor. The next

one, "Five Tap-Dancing Pigeons and Herbie," isn't much better, as after an introduction where Herbie says it took him seventeen years to train the pigeons, they simply fly away when he pulls back the curtain on their little stage. Then, Rollo comes in and grabs onto Herbie as he continues to skate uncontrollably throughout the studio, with the two of them crashing offscreen. Just off the stage, Jon is sure they have it in the bag, while Garfield says the act after them will, "Probably be a dog who plays five instruments at the same time." They're

up next, with the host introducing them as Johnny Bop and the Two-Steps (with Garfield's incredulous reaction, it's clear this is the first time he's heard it). Jon sings just like how he's dressed, with Garfield and Odie providing backup in weirdly feminine voices and with cheesy smiles on their faces. Like I said, as silly as they look, and despite the ridiculousness of the lyrics, such as, "The women all call me/They call me the Wizard of Love," and, "Well, I'm greasy as a gizzard/Cool like a lizard/But I know how to keep you HOT in a blizzard!" (Odie feigns fainting into Garfield's arms over that last one), Jon's singing isn't all that bad. And to their credit, they do get applause, something the other acts didn't, although Garfield still calls Jon's performance awful.

The host introduces the final act, "Bob the Wonder Dog," who, just as Garfield predicted, is going to play five instruments at once. The three of them figure they may have just lost the competition, when Bob is introduced sitting at and playing a piano with a glove at the end of a banjo he's also playing, blowing into both a harmonica and a horn, and using his foot to hit a drum. Odie, smelling a rat, goes behind Bob and finds a zipper on his back. He grabs his head from the back and pulls it

up to reveal it's a mask, outing him as a guy dressed up as a dog. He's promptly booed for this and the host disqualifies him. It's then time for the audience to vote for their favorite and the host motions all the acts to join him onstage. Jon tells Garfield and Odie good luck, but they're sure they're a cinch to win, as they give each other double high-fives before following him. In gauging the audience's opinion of each act, Fernando and Flippy the Chihuahua get booed, as do Pierre and Chatterbox the Parrot (who didn't even perform

and yet, get especially fierce boos), Grandma Fogerty and the Amazing Petey, and Five Tap-Dancing Pigeons and Herbie, the former of whom are still flying around the studio. Johnny Bop and the Two-Steps don't get any audience response but, because they're not booed, they're declared the winners, much to their delight. But when they get home that night, Garfield is just glad it's over and goes straight to his bed. He then groans about going to Hollywood and doing that act on national television. He goes to sleep, hoping things will work out by the Earth shifting, sending Hollywood tumbling into the ocean.

Their trip to Hollywood is visualized Indiana Jones style, with a map and a dotted line making its way to where Tinseltown is marked with an X. They stop on a ridge overlooking the city and, as they're wearing sunglasses, check it out, with Garfield commenting, "Boffo. Terrific. Don't change a thing. I love it just the way it is. Let's do lunch." Jon then says he hopes Hollywood is ready for them, a statement which Garfield isn't at all enthusiastic about. But then, during the montage

where they drive through Hollywood, he finds himself taken with the place and the idea of being so famous that his name becomes a household word. They arrive at their hotel and, when they walk into the lobby, Garfield is bowled over by it, saying, "This makes Jon's home look like a fleabag. No squeaky floors, no peeling wallpaper. Just class as far as the eye can see. I think I could get used to this. What more could a cat want?" He gets his answer when he sees their suite, especially 

the bed, gushing, "I'm so happy I could just cry... check that. I'm so happy I could just sleep... and dream." Following the sequence where he dreams about being in various famous movies, Jon breaks it to Garfield and Odie that they'll eventually have to go back to reality. But, when Jon goes to take a shower, Garfield decides, "Well, Jon and Odie can go back to reality if they want to, but I'm not. I'm staying. I'm gonna win that talent competition, become a star, and live out my days in the manner to which I'm going to be accustomed." He then

talks with Odie and the two of them decide they're not going to win the finals with Jon, so they decide to cut out some of the "deadwood." They spy Jon's guitar on the floor near the bed and, with Odie's help, Garfield knocks the lamp off the nightstand, smashing it to pieces. Jon comes out of the bathroom, preparing to tune the guitar up, only to let out a horrified shout when he sees what's happened to it. He grills Garfield and Odie about what happened but they both feign innocence, walking off while whistling. Not fooled by this, Jon asks what they're going to do, and Garfield, taking his hand and patting it, says, "Don't worry your pretty little head about a thing. Leave everything to us."

Come the night of the finals, the boys arrive at the studio in a limousine and walk down the carpet. After arriving at their private dressing room, Garfield peeks out the door and sees the other acts rehearsing, realizing that the competition is far more talented and competent than what they went up against back home. They include a big pig playing a piano and a trio of ballet dancing dogs. Later, with Garfield and Odie in the costumes for their new act, he and Jon have another back and forth as Jon laments the effect fame might have on

them: "You know, could it be life in Hollywood might change us?" "I hope so." "Could it be life in the fast-lane might make us hard?" "I could live with that." "Could it be we'll forget who we really are?" "Only if we're lucky." "That we'll hurt the little people?" "Hey, I don't care who I step on on the way up, 'cause I ain't coming back down." Garfield and Odie then head out of the room, leaving Jon behind, as he ponders, "Could it be, you'll forget about me?" The finals then begin, with the host, Burt, and the announcer, Bob, listing the

prizes for winning, which include a six-week cruise, limousines, a big house with a pool, and a check for $1 million. As for second place, the prize is... a boat. Nothing more, nothing less. With that, the first act, the Lemon Sisters, is introduced and they do their thing: clucking a rendition of Rockin' Robin. Watching from the stage wing, Jon comments, "Those chickens were pretty good," to which Garfield concurs, "Yes, they are. We must have them for dinner some time." Next are the four

acrobatic dogs called the Garbanzo Brothers, with three of them stacking up on top of each other with the help of the fourth. To that, Jon says, "I didn't know dogs could tumble," and Garfield comments, "Yeah, but are they housebroken?" After that is Miles the Jazz Canary, who whistles a jazzy tune while wearing sunglasses and a blue shirt. Jon then tells Garfield and Odie, "Winning all those prizes would be great, guys. But getting back to our real home will be even greater, right?", to which Garfield says, "He's got to be kidding."

Garfield and Odie are up next, introduced as the "Dancing Armandoes," from Muncie, Indiana (Jim Davis' hometown, by the way). The two of them proceed to do a romantic dance number, with Garfield dressed up in French-style clothes and a beret, while Odie wears a dress, fishnet stockings, red high-heels, a brown wig with a small hat, and lipstick, while holding a rose in his mouth. They get a chair involved, with Garfield putting it under Odie as he hops into it, and he also holds up Odie up like a ballerina in one instance (before dropping

him to the floor). It goes over well, and when they rejoin Jon in the wing, Garfield is convinced they can't lose. That's when the final act, Desiree the Classical Cat, is introduced, and she proceeds to do an opera solo, singing, "Meow," again and again and hitting a note so high that it cracks both a spotlight and the glass of water Jon's holding. The M.C. announces that a decision has been reached, with fifth, fourth, and third place going to the Lemon Sisters, Miles the Jazz Canary, and the Tumbling Garbanzo Brothers respectively, none of

whom are happy with the decision, as they either walk off the stage, blow a raspberry at the M.C., or simply seethe with anger. He's then given the envelope which will reveal second and first place, as Garfield, Jon, and Odie watch nervously from the wing. He drops the envelope to the stage, drawing the tension out all the more, much to Garfield's anxiety, and when he reads it, he reveals that the Dancing Armandoes got second place, while Desiree won first. As Desiree runs back

onstage for the applause, Garfield flips out, throwing his beret to the floor and jumping on it, kicking away a spotlight, and drawing his claws down a curtain, all while yelling, "We've been robbed! I demand a recount! The judges were paid off! Ripoff! We've been rooked! Call Ralph Nader! We've lost everything!" That's when Jon tries to tell him they're still a family but that's little consolation for him.

Coming in second-place, they've won a nice sailboat, which has been named the S.S. Garfield. Standing on deck, Jon, again, tells Garfield and Odie that they might not have been cut out for the stardom Pet Search would've afforded them but Garfield comments, "Speak for yourself, Jon. Some of us were born to be great." Deciding to, at least, enjoy their boat, they fantasize about sailing to various exotic places like the south of France, the Fiji Islands, the Gold Coast of Australia, and the Caribbean Islands... when, in reality, because they live in a landlocked state, they can't go any further than their own backyard.

In terms of songs and music, Garfield Goes Hollywood has two songs sung by Lou Rawls. The first, They Love Us, plays during the opening credits, and it's all about how "successful" Garfield and Odie's routine on the fence is, contrasting completely with their getting stuff thrown at them. The other one, Hollywood Feels So Good, plays during the stylized sequence of Garfield, Odie, and Jon first arriving in Hollywood, and is all about the glamour and wonder of Tinseltown, playing into how Garfield is completely taken with the idea of stardom and decides he wants it. The actual music score by Ed Bogas and Desiree Goyette often features instrumentals of both of those songs, as well as The Wizard of Love that Jon sings during his and the boys' Pet Search act, and has plenty of other memorable themes, many of them very fitting with the idea of Hollywood and show business in general, like a rather solemn saxophone number which you first hear at the very beginning, and is played again when Jon laments what fame may do to them, as well as what sounds like a really cool sax instrumental of Here Comes Garfield from the very first special. The Pet Search theme is a typical glitzy-sounding show tune, there's a simple horn theme for when the boys arrive at the finals, a tense buildup to the revelation of who won the finals, a dreamy theme when they're fantasizing about what to do with the boat they won at the end, and plenty of funny pieces for whenever things go awry, like when Garfield gets stuff hurled at him during his and Odie's act on the fence and when Rollo the Bear crashes into Herbie when his act doesn't work out at all. That's to say nothing of the musical accompaniments for the various acts, like the Lemon Sisters' rendition of Rockin' Robin, the classical music during the Garbanzo Brothers' act, Miles' upbeat, jazzy tune, and the tango-like piece that plays during Garfield and Odie's "Dancing Armandoes" routine.

As I've said before, none of these Garfield specials are out and out bad, and Garfield Goes Hollywood is no exception. It's as well-animated and designed as the rest of them, has some memorably stylized scenes and sequences, some funny moments, and very memorable songs and music, but, on the flip side, I feel it's very so-so at the end of the day, with a story they could've done so much more with had they been given ample time to do so. It's certainly not the weakest of these specials, but it's also not as classic or iconic as many of the ones that came before it, nor is it as effective or memorable as some made before and after it. I do recommend it for fans and, who knows, you may get something out of it that I don't, but for me, it's just kind of there.